what is a safe weight loss per week?

[PiPi84]

How much weight is considered safe to lose per week?

[TikiPaka]

I'd say 1 -2 lbs per week as you'll have a better chance of keeping it off by just stepping and watching what you eat and portion control..

[SunsetRunner]

Hi,

I agree, 1-2 pounds per week..

[Ukase]

Sadly, the answer completely depends on you.

You might weigh 400 pounds. If so, you could safely lose 20 pounds in a week. But, the key is keeping the weight off.

"They" say you shouldn't lose more than 1-2 pounds per week. In theory, it certainly sounds reasonable. In practice, this is really tough!

I burn approximately 22000 calories a week. I eat approximately 15400 per week. This puts me at less than 2 pounds per week - shy of the full 2 pounds by 400 calories.

Initially, I got carried away and reached my target weight of 215 pounds and then basically kept exercising, but stopped paying so close attention to the diet. A couple of weekends here and there indulging in peanut butter, fried chicken and tacos, and I put on 12 pounds pretty quickly.

So, back on the diet I go.

I've relearned that one cannot out exercise a bad diet. Abs are built in the kitchen, not the gym.

So, I'd go with 1 pound a week, try for two. It's not easy. But, if you know with absolute certainty that if a co-worker makes cake and you're offered some that you'll say no thank you every time until you reach or exceed your weight loss goal, if you know for certain that you'll never eat donuts or more than 2 tbsps of peanut butter at a time, then you can probably lose a lot more than 2 pounds a day. It's all up to you, your brain and your discipline in the kitchen, and your exercise duration and intensity level.

[Algenon]

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@Ukase wrote:

Sadly, the answer completely depends on you.

So, I'd go with 1 pound a week, try for two. It's not easy. But, if you know with absolute certainty that if a co-worker makes cake and you're offered some that you'll say no thank you every time until you reach or exceed your weight loss goal, if you know for certain that you'll never eat donuts or more than 2 tbsps of peanut butter at a time, then you can probably lose a lot more than 2 pounds a day. It's all up to you, your brain and your discipline in the kitchen, and your exercise duration and intensity level.

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 I agree with Ukase.  I would also consult a doctor and ask them.  They can set a good diet and amount.

Good Luck! 

[Heybales]

Less than 10 - 0.5 lbs or 250 deficit.

10-25 lbs - 1 lb or 500 deficit.

25-50 lbs - 1.5 or 750

over 50 lbs - 2 or 1000

The other safe way to view it, which sadly isn't supported by vast majority of the tracking sites and devices, is about 15-20% of your TDEE.

Now, you could with Fitbit literally do that daily since you are given a TDEE or daily burn figure. Take 20% as eating goal. But all the graphs and goals would be off.

Or could take weekly average of daily burn, figure out 15-20% off, and make that your manually made eating goal.

I'll mention that's reasonable. Safe is depending on your body and Dr supervision.

Studies of people with very low calorie eating programs get great weight loss. They also only take people that have had NO weight changes or weight loss attempts in usually prior 6-12 months, have no health issues except being overweight, and many times have no exercise. And from involvement needed in the study, likely no job.

They are then tested and measured out the whazoo, and frequently during the study, to confirm nothing is going wrong.

It's also interesting how many of those folks after the 6-12 week or how ever long it was, are let go with some advice to continue on their own. They rarely do the study until person is at healthy weight, it's a timed study, when it's done, they are done with you. And the blogs of those folks, or you find them on MFP, ect - failed to continue to lose weight, or gained it right back again, or starting having issues later - all attempting it on their own.

[njones309]

People say 1-2 lbs per week, BUT your body will tell you. If you have a lot of weight to lose you will lose faster then somebody trying to lose that "last 10 pounds."   Have a healthy diet and exercise regularly and it will come off no matter what. Whenever I start a diet. I lose 10-15 pounds my first week. Water weight -- then 2nd week goes down 5-8 lbs.. 3rd week I stall. When the 4th week hits. I consistently lose 3-5 lbs a week until I plateau again.

Don't think about that number. It doesn't define you. Go by the way your clothes fit / feel.

Good Luck !

[LewWagner]

From this thread and what I've seen on the internet and by talking to my doctor, 1-2 pounds is an average, but it depends on your initial weight, what target weight you want to get two, and sane time to get to that target weight.  You'll also tend to lose more of a percentage at first due to water loss and just adjusting your caloric intake (not to mention stopping the snacking and midnight raids to the fridge).  You will also see a loss due to introduction of excercise (I'd recommend walking and light reps of pushups and situps).  As you progress along your weight loss campaign, you might even see that you are losing more than the average, but that will change as you get to mid point or 2/3 rds of the way because then you will see it takes longer, more exercise, and/or less calories to lose one pound. 

Not a doctor or nutritionist, but I have talked to them about this and tried to research legit web sites for this info above.  Also, I'm 58, 5'9", and weight 300 lbs back at the end of Oct 2013.  I'm now at 176 and intaking around 1,200 calories and burning about 2,700-3,000 calories (mainly walking at 3.5 mph for average of 7 miles a day and getting over 105,000 steps a week). 

I wish you every success on your program.  We're all pulling for you!

Lew Wagner

[keengkong]

It's best not to lose more than an average of 1% of your bodyweight each week. Your actually weight loss will vary. For instance, you might not lose any weight during one week, then lose five pounds the next. 

For a radical reduction, you'd do what they do on the Biggest Loser: For each pound of bodyfat, you'd eat six calories per day. Then you'd exercise a great deal.  That's probably the most that you can lose safely. However, most people who have dieted like that find that they're not able to continue following a diet like that for long.  You're also more likely to lose muscle mass. In the show, that's not as big of a problem because they have professional trainers making sure they do exercises that will help prevent that loss of muscle mass.  They also do not have to work, take care of kids, etc., while on the show. 

[Thorgrym]

I agree with Ukase, also. It really depends on your initial weight. What is widely accepted is the rate of 1-2 pounds per week. However, what is safer? Weighing 400 lbs. for an extended period of time OR dropping within the range of a much safer weight - say 220-250 lbs. relatively quickly? Sure, dropping that 150-180 lbs. within a couple of weeks wouldn't be terribly safe, either, considering what you would have to do to drop that much weight in a short time.

1. Listen to your body.
2. Eat proper quantities of healthy foods based on your personal needs.
3. Exercise, but don't overdo it.
4. Accept your progress. Did you only lose 1 pound this week? No worries - you still made progress!

Just my $0.02...

[SunsetRunner]

Heybales,

I read your post and found interesting what you posted at the top.

I managed to lose fifteen pounds in four months. Since then I have struggled to get down another five to ten pounds. It never occurred to me that switching to a different calorie deficit would possibly work.

I am going to try starting today and see what happens. Thanks for posting this information.

[Shackamaxon]

Reply to Falcon:

I too lost 15 lbs in the first 3 months and was delighted with that.I still have another 30 lbs to reach my first goal but at least I am well under the 200 lb mark.  I am using the same walking plan and eating the same number of calories but have lost nothing in the past 2 weeks.  Obviously I am disappointed but I have not faultered except for my own birthday when my gentleman friend  took me out for a lobster dinner.  Even with wine and a shared dessert I was in the goal area ( just barely). In your post you mentioned changing your caloric discrepancy.  Can you explain what that means. I am currently aiming for 1 1/2 lbs week. But I read that sometimes when you go below 1200 calories a day your body goes into starvation mode and won't let you you lose.  I am planning to add some upper body exercise  like standing pushups and bicep/tricep curls. I have broken my 5 mile walk  up into 2 dedicated sessions a day as well as my daily routine stepping.  Any more suggestions??

Mickey

[LewWagner]

It's pretty straightforward...

You count "exactly" the calories you take in.

No fudging or leaving something out...

Then you exercise (not just sit on a sofa and think about exercising).

For example, just go for a walk (weather and temperature permitting) for an hour.  There are plenty of internet sites showing what such and such a speed of walking for XX minutes will mean for calorie burn (some even take into acccount your height and weight and age).

From this exercise, calculate what you burned in calories.

Hopefully, you will burn more calories than you take in.  That deficit will result in loss of weight (fat and muscle and water). 

IF you're consistent in your intake and your exercise regimen, you'll almost always be rewarded with pounds lost.  It might not happen over night, but if you change your eating habits, stop in between meal piecing, smaller portions of what you do eat, and eating non-processed foods, you will definitely lower your daily nutritional values. 

I've heard you need to burn around 3,000 calories to lose one pound (I think that is 3,000 above whatever you intake).  Well, I've taken in an average of 1,200 calories a day, and wound up burning between 2,700-3,000 calories a day.  I've gone from 300 lbs in Nov 2013 to 170 lbs in Aug 2014 with this campaign I am on.  So, I don't think the 3,000 a day net deficit is accurate.  Perhaps others can add to this thread?

So, I don't know why you're not losing weight, but I think it's simple.  Either eat right and less or exercise much much more.  Doing both in the right combination will lead to satisfactory results.

Just my two cents worth.

Lew

[Heybales]

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@Shackamaxon wrote:

Reply to Falcon:

I too lost 15 lbs in the first 3 months and was delighted with that.I still have another 30 lbs to reach my first goal but at least I am well under the 200 lb mark.  I am using the same walking plan and eating the same number of calories but have lost nothing in the past 2 weeks.  Obviously I am disappointed but I have not faultered except for my own birthday when my gentleman friend  took me out for a lobster dinner.  Even with wine and a shared dessert I was in the goal area ( just barely). In your post you mentioned changing your caloric discrepancy.  Can you explain what that means. I am currently aiming for 1 1/2 lbs week. But I read that sometimes when you go below 1200 calories a day your body goes into starvation mode and won't let you you lose.  I am planning to add some upper body exercise  like standing pushups and bicep/tricep curls. I have broken my 5 mile walk  up into 2 dedicated sessions a day as well as my daily routine stepping.  Any more suggestions??

Mickey

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Since old topic, I'll respond too.

First - 2 weeks is too short to decide if something hasn't worked. So keep that in mind. Especially applies if you've changed something, but you haven't. Sooo ....

Second - If you are eating about the same that caused loss prior, but are walking the same time and pace moving less mass around, you are burning less calories.

You have to eat less than you burn to lose weight. Moving less mass around all day long and in walking means you are not burning as much as you used to.

Now, Fitbit should be giving decent estimate on what you burn walking, and you should notice that it's less than before. Should also notice with weight loss your at rest calorie burn per 5 min is less too.

If you manually set an eating goal, then you messed up - you should have selected a Fitbit goal of say 500 less than you burn, in which case this whole time you would have slowly and slowly been eating less and less correctly as you kept burning less and less each week.

You currently have a reasonable weight loss goal, but is that based on what you burn as reported by Fitbit, or a manually set calorie level? What you say seems to suggest both which isn't possible.

And it's not the 1200 calories, it's the amount of deficit that matters. You could be eating 1800, and your weight is so high you burn 4000 at the start - and that could be such a big deficit your body will slow down everything it burns and slow down your weight loss. Won't stop when you start that high, just don't have as big a loss. That's eating over 50% less than you burn daily.

But do the same thing for a small person burning at start 2500, and then eats 1200 or below, again over 50% less than you burn. But much worse effect, because much less calories to play with.

You don't stop losing weight, but you have to eat so much less you likely won't adhere to the diet, and the binges keep you fat. So while the goal may be 1000, it's the 3000 weekly binge that causes fat gain.

[Heybales]

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@LewWagner wrote:

For example, just go for a walk (weather and temperature permitting) for an hour.  There are plenty of internet sites showing what such and such a speed of walking for XX minutes will mean for calorie burn (some even take into acccount your height and weight and age).

From this exercise, calculate what you burned in calories.

Hopefully, you will burn more calories than you take in.  That deficit will result in loss of weight (fat and muscle and water). 

I've heard you need to burn around 3,000 calories to lose one pound (I think that is 3,000 above whatever you intake).  Well, I've taken in an average of 1,200 calories a day, and wound up burning between 2,700-3,000 calories a day.  I've gone from 300 lbs in Nov 2013 to 170 lbs in Aug 2014 with this campaign I am on.  So, I don't think the 3,000 a day net deficit is accurate.  Perhaps others can add to this thread?

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Your description in first couple lines above is perhaps not what you meant, that you burn more in exercise than you eat to lose weight. Because that is what you actually said, and that is so wrong as to how you lose weight reasonably. That would imply if you want to eat 1000 calories, you better burn 1500 in that walk when you look it up for calorie burn.

Also, since we are on a forum for Fitbit, why refer to going elsewhere for calorie burn on a walk, when the Fitbit is already doing that?

That 3000 is wrong too. Fat as an energy source provides about 3500 calorie per pound, if it's the only energy source. Muscle is about 600 per lb. Carbs with attached water is 500 per lb.

And it's NOT above, it's below what you burn in total. So you burn in total daily in 1 week 3500 more than you ate in total for the week, outside known water fluctuations, you should lose a lb of fat.

And no, eating 50% less than you burn is an awful idea unless you want to lose muscle mass. Now if you are in a research study being measured and tested out the wazoo every 2 weeks to confirm remaining healthy, that's one thing, but recommending that to others in that case is unsafe ideas and fad extreme dieting. Congrats on weight loss, but sadly your body has adapted and you don't burn that much daily anymore. If you did, you'd be losing 3.3 lbs weekly right now. (2850-1200 = 1650 x 7 = 11550 / 3500 = 3.3)

Considering you have to eat less when you are moving less mass around, have you played out the end game, like how little are you going to have to eat to keep going if you do, or how much exercise is required for 1200 to be maintenance? What happens when sick or injured and can't exercise enough, or vacation - now how low must you eat to maintain and not gain fat back?

Eat a little less and burn a little more is great combo, eating a lot less and exercising a whole lot more is bad combo.

170 lbs in 10 months is great. That would imply 170 x 3500 = 595000 total deficit / 40 weeks = 14875 weekly deficit / 7 days = daily deficit of 2125 if it was only fat mass. If you kept to that 1200 eating goal exactly, that would imply you burned 3325 daily during that time to create that deficit.

So ya, you burned more than fat. Count some water of course, count some muscle mass too.

Because you might have burned that or more at the start weighing more, but to still burn that much daily now would require walking much longer, which is of course easier with lighter weight. But you said daily burn is less than that now as reported by Fitbit. And it's way overestimating what you actually burn right now.

[LewWagner]

HB,

I could be snarky and say that I lost 130 lbs overall in 9 2/3 months, not 170.  But, I won't....

Lew

[Heybales]

Whoops, that's what I get for 3 windows being open at once with comments.

Changes math a bit, and to confirm it since I may have crossed those up too.

38.6 weeks 130 lbs

130 x 3500 / 38.6 / 7 = 1684 + 1200 = 2884 which you are indeed seeing now as daily burn. Still should be seeing 3.3 weekly if that figure was true though.

[Britt_W]

According to my doctor and personal trainer the very max should be 3 pounds a week the safe way and if you go over that your probably using some type of meal replacement or different suppliment 

[LewWagner]

Britt,

Not taking any dietary supplements other than a multi vitamin each morning and my meds. 

Just non-processed foods either steamed or grilled on the barbie.  Water, no sauces, lots of herbs and spices.

Intaking about an overall average for 295 days of a little over 1,500 calories.  Lost 130 pounds (300->170) in that time.

Burning an average of about 2,700-3,000 calories lately a day per my FitBit Zip. 

I have more and more energy and still have some muscle mass.  Will rebuild lost mass once I get to my "stretch" goal weight of 160 or 155.  that way, I can gain some weight in muscle and still be below my initial target weight of 170.  At age 58 and at 5'8", not too shabby....

I appreciate your input and HB's, as well.  Good info to know.  I only know this is what I've done and I did it without added drugs or whatever. 

Lew

[alannarhea]

Hi!  I'm one of the "they" people have mentioned above.  🙂  So as a clinical registered dietitian, the standard recommended safe rate of weight loss for someone who is not supervised on a regular basis by a physician is 1-2 lbs per week, which is equivalent to 500-1000 calorie deficit per day.  Good luck with your endeavors!  You've already accomplished the hardest part...starting!